Tony Wolters wasn’t even supposed to play Friday night against the Seattle Mariners.

Tom Murphy was in Colorado’s lineup to catch starting pitcher German Marquez Paul Hornung Jersey , only to receive word that he needed to return home to Denver to be with his wife, Lindsay, who’s giving birth to their second child. Wolters found out around 4 p.m. that Murphy was out and he was in for the Rockies.

He responded by driving in three runs on a pair of triples, throwing out Dee Gordon trying to steal second base and calling a strong game for Marquez in a 7-1 victory.

”Tony had a really good game,” manager Bud Black said. ”Two triples, was part of the offense, contributed there, caught German very well. Stuck some pitches that I think were probably borderline that we got some calls, which was great, which Tony does so well.”

Wolters becomes the first catcher in Rockies history to hit two triples in a game.

”I was happy I connected with the ball and did something for the team offensively,” Wolters said.

He also blocked a pitch in the dirt from Marquez and managed to flip the ball back to Marquez covering the plate to retire an advancing Gordon in the bottom of the sixth.

”It was a curveball (Marquez) threw 12 feet,” Wolters said jokingly, ”but I think it hit off my stomach on the right side kind of weird and went (to the right) and I saw (Gordon) coming. (Marquez) is such an athlete, he took two steps and he was already at home plate. I threw the ball to him and he made a sweet tag.”

Marquez (7-8) limited the Mariners to one run and five hits with five strikeouts. He walked none and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning.

Charlie Blackmon homered off Felix Hernandez (8-7) to give Colorado a 1-0 lead in the first. Hernandez allowed hits to Carlos Gonzalez and Trevor Story before getting out of the early jam.

Raimel Tapia doubled over the right-field wall before Wolters’ first triple extended the Rockies’ advantage to 2-0. DJ LeMahieu’s sacrifice fly scored Wolters.

Hernandez was driven from the game after five innings, having allowed three runs and eight hits with two strikeouts.

”Felix was having some struggles in the first inning,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. ”He made a mistake to Blackmon with the home run. He just wasn’t sharp at all, but was still able to give us five innings and keep us somewhat in the ballgame.”

Colorado quickly piled on against Roenis Elias in the sixth. After Ian Desmond reached on an error and Tapia walked, Wolters tripled again to drive them in. A double by LeMahieu scored Wolters as the Rockies made it 6-0.

Denard Span hit a solo homer off Marquez in the sixth to get the Mariners on the scoreboard.

Gonzalez drove in Blackmon on a double in the eighth off Nick Rumbelow to extend Colorado’s lead to 7-1.

MARJAMA RETIRES

Mariners C Mike Marjama informed the team that he is retiring from baseball to take a position with the National Eating Disorders Association. Marjama, 28, was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on April 20 after making the team’s opening day roster. He appeared in 10 games this season Gustav Forsling Jersey , batting .111 with three doubles, two walks and six strikeouts. Seattle now has three openings on its 40-man roster.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: RF Mitch Haniger took batting practice before the game and was expected to be available off the bench as a pinch-hitter two days after sustaining a bruised knee running into the outfield wall. He was scratched before Thursday’s series finale with the Los Angeles Angels. … Gordon left after the play at the plate in the sixth. Servais said Gordon tweaked his hip. ”I think he’ll be OK, but I’ll know more tomorrow morning.”

UP NEXT

Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland (8-6) has worked at least six innings in 12 of his last 13 starts for the Rockies and has won four of his last five decisions. He has allowed two runs of fewer in each of his last four starts.

Mariners: LHP James Paxton (8-2) has won eight of his last nine decisions and is coming off eight shutout innings against Kansas City, allowing just two hits and walking two while striking out 11.

—


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The end is near.

No, not for the season, although for the Kansas City Royals, it can’t come soon enough. Shortstop Alcides Escobar’s string of starting 406 consecutive games at shortstop might be coming to an end.

Escobar may or may not be at shortstop Wednesday night when the Royals close out a three-game series against the Texas Rangers. It will also be the finale of an eight-game homestand with the Royals failing to collect a victory in the first seven.

The Royals are in a full-fledged youth movement with a 22-51 record. Escobar, 31, is not part of the future. The Royals are optimistic Adalberto Mondesi, 22, will be.

“Esky’s been our shortstop for a long time,” Royals manager Ned Yost said Tuesday. “It’s a pretty big change, seeing somebody different at short, but it’s exciting, too because now you’re starting to give other younger players opportunities to see what they can do.”

Escobar has been the Royals starting shortstop since he arrived in 2011 from the Milwaukee Brewers as part of the Zack Greinke deal. He started for the American League in the 2015 All-Star game, claimed a Gold Glove that year and the Royals won the World Series.

The Royal re-signed him to a one-year contract during the winter after he declared for free agency.

“It’s a good chance to experiment right now,” Yost said. “There’s nothing that is going to make or break us. You can start looking at thing a little bit differently and start experimenting with some things.”

He said he plans to play Mondesi a couple of games a week at shortstop, which is his natural position. Meanwhile, he said he would use Escobar in different positions John Hayden Jersey , including center field, second base and third base.

While the Rangers have won a season-high four straight, the Royals have lost eight in a row — equaling their season-high — and 14 of 15.

They managed a mere four singles in a 4-1 loss on Tuesday night to the Rangers’ Cole Hamels and relievers Jake Diekman and Keone Kela. In June, the Royals are hitting .186 and averaging 2.2 runs per game. They have scored 36 runs in 17 June games. They went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday and are batting .196 with RISP this month.

Left-hander Yohander Mendez was scheduled to start Wednesday for the Rangers, but instead he was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock for violating team rules. The incident occurred away from Kauffman Stadium and after the Monday night game.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said the violation did not involve the police, was criminal or involve Major League Baseball.

The Rangers recalled right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx from Triple-A Round Rock and he will make the start Wednesday. He had a 2-3 record with a 4.47 ERA in 11 starts in the Pacific Coast League. He made two starts earlier this season for Texas, going 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA.

Bibens-Dirkx spent 12 seasons in the minors before making his big-league debut last season. He went 5-2 with a 4.67 ERA in 24 games, including six starts, for the Rangers as a rookie in 2017.

The Royals will counter with right-hander Jakob Junis, who is 5-7 with a 4.43 ERA. He has dropped his past four decisions. He yielded six runs, matching his career high, over 5 1/3 innings in his last start, a loss to the Houston Astros.

Junis is 3-5 with a 4.84 ERA in eight home starts this season. He has allowed 18 home runs, 13 of them at Kauffman Stadium.

This will be Junis’ first appearance against the Rangers.

The Rangers have won 16 of their last 19 games against the Royals, dating to July 23, 2016, including winning four of six this season.

Shin-Soo Choo singled in the sixth inning Tuesday night and has reached base in 33 consecutive games. The Rangers outfielder is hitting .328 during the streak, which is the second longest in the majors this year.